in
Slave Catchers, the article included the history of the Black Codes, that codified slavery and created the racial caste system that we suffer under today. Slavery was defined as only for Africans; later, they became chattel slaves (i.e. slaves as property) and that condition would become permanent AND hereditary. Whites were still indentured servants and expected to become free after the term of service expired.
The telling part of the article was that is showed the dehumanization of black people in order to make them permanent slaves. They were considered not smart enough to live on their own, and had to be enslaved for their own protection. Runaway slaves had a sickness that caused them to runaway. The treatment: whipping. The slaves were hardly the "smiling, happy negroes" of legend--but they made a lot of white men rich.
Slavery was an incredible money-making machine. Both ends of the colonies, north and south were getting rich. Free labor and production of raw materials made the southern plantation owners rich. Economic support of the slave trade, including, but not limited to, shipping, ship building, insurance, and trading houses, enriched the northern colonies.
Bacon's Rebellion of the 1670's was barely mentioned, but Bacon's rebels were both white and black. This likely hastened Virginia passing the Black Codes in the 1680's, and then the rest of the southern colonies. The article focused at lot on the South, esp. South Carolina, where, in some counties, the slaves outnumbered the whites. To maintain order, local militias were organized and charged with assisting slave owners in catching runaway slaves and watching for possible revolt. All white males were required to serve at some point in time. Poor whites, who had nothing in common with their rich counterparts, got the chance to be in their presence and considered a "gentleman," if only for the hours the militia was on patrol. For them, it was because they would always be considered better than anyone black.
Later, specialized slave catchers would appear in addition to the local militias. The article went to the post-Civil War timeframe where these would be the forerunners of the the KKK and such groups.
The article did not concentrate on the Abolitionist movements and Underground Railroad. They were talked about, but the large percentage of runaways went to find family members who were sold and moved.
This was also 2 hours well spent in learning the history that isn't in most school US history textbooks.